Bev Kearney, Texas Coach, Resigns After Admitting Affair With Athlete

Bev Kearney, a Hall of Fame track and field coach, has resigned from her position at the University of Texas after admitting to a consensual affair with one of her athletes. Here, she is during practice in Austin, Tex., in 2011. University officials were planning a pay raise for the NCAA college coach before she was abruptly suspended. (AP Photo/Statesman.com, Ralph Barrera, file) | AP

The head of the university's legal affairs department, Patti Ohlendorf, expressed respect for Kearney in a statement to CNN. "However, she made this terrible mistake and used unacceptably poor judgment in having this relationship," she said.

Although the relationship was reportedly consensual, the university "cannot condone such an intimate relationship, including one that is consensual, between a head coach and an [sic] student athlete," Ohlendorf said in a statement to the AP. "We told Coach Kearney such a relationship is unprofessional and crosses the line of trust placed in the head coach for all aspects of the athletic program and the best interests of the student athletes on the team.”

Kearney's attorney said he believes Kearney has been treated differently from her male counterparts. “We believe that Ms. Kearney has been subjected to a double standard and has received far harsher punishment than that being given to her male counter-parts who have engaged in similar conduct," read a statement sent to the Statesman. “It is a shame that this remarkably talented female African-American coach, who has devoted her life to helping others, is being bullied and scapegoated by the University of Texas.”